Iris Fontbona (Chile): Copper-fastened fortune

In Chile, it is said that everywhere you turn your head, you see evidence of Iris Fontbona’s handiwork. However there was nothing in her childhood to suggest a life as a captain of industry awaited. By all accounts Iris Balbina Fontbona González had a comfortable childhood, and, aside from attending a prestigious private catholic school, led a normal life for a Chilean teenager.    

That was to change when at 17, when she met Andrónico Luksic Abaroa, a young entrepreneur 15 years her senior, who was a widower. They would marry a couple of years later, thus beginning a fruitful private and business relationship that lasted until Luksic died of cancer in 2005 after amassing a fortune in copper mining, manufacturing and beverages. Since her husband’s death, the fortunes of their multinational, Antofagasta Plc, have been steered by Fontbona.

Empress of copper
Propelled to the head of a company founded in 1888 and listed on the London Stock Exchange, Fontbona proved she was up to the task. The group purchased Minnesota’s Twin Mines in 2015, the same year it acquired a 50% stake in the Zaldivar copper mine from Canadian company Barrick Gold for $1 billion.

Antofagasta's activity has allowed Iris Fontbona to become the richest person in Chile, far ahead of her nearest rival, Julio Ponce Lerou, who ‘only’ has $3.6 billion to his name

Copper is in big demand in the 21st century as it is a key raw material in everything from electronic vehicles to solar power panels. It is impossible to imagine the technological or energy transitions taking place without an abundant supply of “the eternal metal”, as it is sometimes called.

As important as it is, the rust-colored manna is not the be all and end all of Antofagasta. Over the decades, the group has diversified its activities to include banking, beer and bubbly water, acquiring the Banco de Chile, the second biggest bank in the country, and CCU, the country’s leading soft-drinks manufacturer. The family are also involved in the media, thanks to their ownership of the television station Canal 13, among other interests in the sector locally.

Keep it in the family
The family’s non-mining related interests are handled by the conglomerate Quinenco, which is presided over by her son Jean Paul Luksic Fontbona. Her half-brother Andronico Luksic Craig, for his part, is the CEO of Antofagasta and a distinguished mountaineer, used to scaling corporate and alpine peaks alike.

The activity of the family group has allowed Iris Fontbona to become the richest person in Chile, far ahead of her nearest rival Julio Ponce Lerou, who ‘only’ has $3.6 billion to his name. Nevertheless, there is has a long way to go to rival the very richest women in the world, such as the L’Oréal heiress Françoise Bettencourt ($74.8 billion), Alice Walton of Walmart ($65.3 billion) or the ex-wife of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, MacKenzie Scott ($44 billion).

To put her wealth into perspective, it should be pointed out that the other woman on our list of key lesser-known billionaires, the Kazakh Dinara Kulibaeva, is hovering at around the $4 billion dollar mark.

Dividing her time between her London mansion, Liechtenstein and her home country, the devout catholic keeps a close watch on the fortunes of the various companies in her family’s portfolio, while also engaging in several philanthropic pursuits. In 2015, for example, she made headlines by donating almost $4 million to a Chilean telethon.